Cazenovia resident overcomes stroke to win pageant, refocus her life

View full sizeStephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardJennifer Reid, 27, winner of the Miss East Coast U.S. Beauties 2010 pageant, and Marissa Mekos, 13, of Ithaca, winner of the Little Miss Princess pageant, pose with Fortune at the Canterbury Stables in Cazenovia. Reid is a former Miss Madison County who suffered a stroke in her early 20s. She is appearing in the new Oxygen reality show Jersey Couture and mentors Mekos as part of the Princess Mentoring program.

Cazenovia, NY -- Jennifer Reid grew up riding horses, playing soccer and fishing with her father. But the Cazenovia College graduate and beauty pageant winner will show another side of her personality tonight on a reality show that celebrates inner beauty.

The 27-year-old, who holds the titles of Miss Madison County and Miss East Coast U.S. Beauties 2010, will appear on ’’Jersey Couture” on the Oxygen network. “I like to think that I’m versatile. I love it all.”

The road to her celebrity status wasn’t easy. The Florida native was 23 and competing on the national equestrian circuit when she suffered a sudden and unexplained stroke, which affected her ability to speak.

As she recuperated, Reid made several life decisions. She moved to Cazenovia three years ago to finish her college degree, choosing the community for its mix of country atmosphere and cultural offerings.

Being in a pageant was part of the “bucket list” she made during her recovery. “I don’t ever want to look back and have regrets in my life,” she said.

She was attracted to the U.S. Beauties pageant because of its focus on inner beauty, philanthropy and community involvement. The competition does not include swimwear or talent categories. Instead, contestants are marked on their public speaking and interview skills.

View full sizeCourtesy of Jennifer Reid Jennifer Reid

“It matters who you are, not what you look like,” said Reid, who joked she would have had to bring a horse onstage to compete in a talent category. “The prettiest woman on stage isn’t necessarily going to win.”

After winning her local title, she went on to compete for the Miss East Coast title, which was captured by the cameras of “Jersey Couture,” a reality show set in a New Jersey dress shop. The fashionistas at Diane & Co. helped Reid choose the perfect pageant attire: a fully-beaded white and peach gown with a halter top. “All they care about is that you look amazing,” she said of the salon, run by sisters who have been dubbed “Jersey’s First Family of Fashion.”

The team also is helping her prepare to compete for the national crown in Chicago next month.

In the last few months, Reid has crossed a few other items off the bucket list she originally penned on the back of a cocktail napkin.

She graduated from Cazenovia College in May and works full-time as a drug and alcohol counselor in Liverpool. On the side, she is pursuing her passion for fashion as a jewelry designer, with a line of offerings for equestrians.

She still spends time each day at Canterbury Stables in the town of Fenner, taking care of the 12-year-old horse that has been with her for nearly a decade. On Friday, she held a benefit auction at the Show Trunk in Cazenovia, raising $2,000 for Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue, a Florida-based nonprofit that buys horses from slaughterhouses and finds them new homes.

And she’s hoping to pass the lessons she learned on to other young girls through her work in the pageant system. “These girls are faced with so much — body image, drug and alcohol, peer pressure,” said Reid, who spends time with 13-year-old Marissa Mekos, of Ithaca, through the pageant’s Princess Mentoring program. “If we can reach out to them, hopefully we can make a difference in their lives.”